Bacon Chocolate Cupcakes

Bacon Chocolate Cupcakes

I first saw bacon cupcakes on Food Network's Unwrapped and I said to myself, " I gotta try that!" Unfortunately, none of the bakeries in the island make them. Why? Because bacon, (and anything pork), is considered "unclean" this part of the world so anything with pork bacon is impossible to find in any of the mainstream restos in the country.

But, all hope is not lost. Thankfully, I can get bacon in the "unclean" section of specialty groceries, (because there are expats like me who likes them pork! har har). So, to satisfy my curiosity and craving I made some for myself, on my birthday! Oh yeah, I bake 'em cake and ate 'em too!

So, with a little bit of research, I found the recipe to work with and adapted it. For the dark chocolate bacon cupcakes, I used the recipe from www.allrecipes.com; and for the chocolate ganache, I used my favorite ganache recipe by Ina Garten. You may follow the links that will lead you to the pages of the original recipes or you can use my version. I call it Bacon Chocolate Cupcakes-- dark chocolate cupcakes with bacon, topped with dark chocolate ganache sprinkled with crispy bacon bits.

Difficulty: medium

Prep Time: 20 mins
Cooking/ Baking Time: 50 mins - 1 hr 40 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins - 2 hrs, depending on how many cupcake pans your oven can accommodate

Ingredients:

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

20 slices smoked bacon
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 large eggs
1 cup cold, strong, brewed coffee
1 cup buttermilk*
1/2 cup vegetable oil

*Note: to make homemade buttermilk, put 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice in a measuring cup. Fill in the cup with full cream milk up to 1 cup. Let it stand for 5 minutes. You will notice that the milk will curdle a bit. Stir and use as directed.

Chocolate Ganache

8 ounces dark chocolate, roughly chopped
1/2 cup double cream
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules

Directions:

For the Bacon Dark Chocolate Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 190*C.

2. On a skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until brown and crisp. Dice and set aside.

3. In a stand mixer, sift together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add eggs, coffee, buttermilk and oil. Using a paddle attachment, mix all the ingredients over medium speed.

4. Line the cupcake pans with cupcake liners. Use half of the bacon bits and sprinkle about 1 tbsp on each cupcake liners. Pour batter over the bacon bits and fill the cups about 2/3 of the way. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 - 25 minutes. Cool completely.

For the Dark Chocolate Ganache:

1. In a double boiler, mix the chocolate, cream and instant coffee and cook over simmering water until smooth, stirring occasionally.

To assemble:

1. Top the cupcakes with dark chocolate ganache and top with the remaining bacon bits. Best served warm.


Makes 36 cupcakes

If you like the recipes in my Barefoot Contessa Birthday Brunch, here are the links:
1. Hasselback Potatoes
2. Sauteed Mushrooms with Garlic and Herbs
3. Green & Sunny Skillet
4. Flavored Butter
5. Roasted Garlic Spread (posting soon!)
6. Bacon Chocolate Cupcakes
7. Summer Iced Green Tea (posting soon!)


13 April 2012
Home-cooked Meals

Green & Sunny Skillet

Green & Sunny Skillet

This is my first post on skillet cooking and I promise you there's going to be plenty of them in the future. I mean, just look at that skillet, isn't it a thing of beauty? I bought it new and unseasoned and I'm putting a lot of hours lovingly seasoning it. I cannot wait until it turns into a beautiful black patina.

But enough about the skillet. Maybe I would blog about how to properly season and care for this heirloom-worthy pan some other time. But today, I'm going to share the easy recipe I prepared on my birthday brunch, Green & Sunny Skillet-- a spinach and roasted pine nuts egg bake.

I adjusted the recipe from the original egg bake that I made. I used 200g of fresh spinach at that time, (2 bags). I thought that was more than enough...NOT! When it wilted, I ended up having about 2 cups of it. So, to "beef" it up, here's the adjusted recipe. By the way, it tasted great, that is why I was left wanting for more!


Difficulty: Medium

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time:25-30 minutes
Total Time: 35-40 minutes

Ingredients:
500g fresh spinach or 5 cups frozen spinach
4 tbsp pine nuts
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 large eggs
2 tbsp EVOO
1 tsp sea salt + few sprinkles on top of eggs
1/2 tsp pepper + few grounds on top of eggs
parmigiano reggiano, shaved (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 180*C.

2. Toast the pine nuts in a dry, non-stick pan over medium heat. Shake the pan frequently to ensure even browning. Once the nuts are slightly browned, remove from heat and transfer the nuts into a bowl. Set aside.
Note: Do not leave the pine nuts in the hot pan or else the nuts will continue to brown.

3. Prepare the cast iron skillet by coating the inside of the skillet with EVOO (that's Extra Virgin Olive Oil), about 1 tbsp. Once coated, add the rest of the EVOO and turn the stove top to medium heat.

4. Saute garlic until medium brown. Add the spinach and stirring occasionally until slightly wilted. Then add salt, pepper and roasted pine nuts until well combined. Be sure to taste and add salt and pepper if desired. Turn off the heat.

5. Make 4 evenly spaced indentations for the eggs. Crack the eggs onto those dents or wells one at a time. Bake for 8-12 minutes depending on how you like your egg. 8 minutes will give you a soft-yolked and runny egg, which is how I like it. If you want a firmer set, leave it for a minute or 2 but keep an eye on it, you wouldn't want a rubbery-textured egg, that will ruin this beautiful dish.

6. To serve, sprinkle freshly ground sea salt and black pepper on top of the eggs and sprinkle freshly shaved parmigiano reggiano on top. Serve in the skillet of course!


If you like the recipes in my Barefoot Contessa Birthday Brunch, here are the links:
1. Hasselback Potatoes
2. Sauteed Mushrooms with Garlic and Herbs
3. Green & Sunny Skillet
4. Flavored Butter
5. Roasted Garlic Spread (posting soon!)
6. Bacon Chocolate Cupcakes
7. Summer Iced Green Tea (posting soon!)



14 April 2012
Home-cooked Meals

Sautéed Mushrooms

Sauteed Mushrooms

Last January, we went home to the Philippines and spent a few weeks of holiday traveling from one province to another, spending time with our family and friends. It was our first time to come home as a family so a 3 week vacation is rather short to do all the things we wanted to do and to catch up with old pals.

with Ritchie in his crib

But, we did manage to keep our promise to one of our dearest friends, Ritchie, and that is to stay in his place the day before we fly back to Bahrain. He's got a lovely flat in one of the upcoming urban community in Manila. It's cozy and homey. And Ritchie made sure we are comfortable and well taken care of. He even went to the extent of preparing breakfast before he went off to work, (that's just one of the many things he does to spoil us by the way).

with the scoobies, Zara & Bershka

One of the dishes he prepared was sauteed mushrooms and I just loved it. It's earthy and buttery. And the garlic was not overpowering, it just made the mushrooms stand-out. What a great way to start the day, and to cap our short but sweet holiday. Though we live a much more comfortable life in the Middle East, Manila will always be home. It's because of friends like Ritchie that holidays are "more fun in the Philippines"!

And so, I remembered that breakfast when I was planning for my birthday brunch. So I thought I'd recreate the dish. I just added tiny bits of fresh parsley because greens makes everything better.


Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

500g fresh button mushrooms, quartered
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
2 tbsp EVOO
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Heat the EVOO over medium heat. Add garlic, cook until slightly browned.

2. Add the mushrooms and saute occasionally for 5 minutes or until cooked. Add parsley, salt and pepper 1 minute before removing from heat. Garnish with fresh parsley before serving.

Makes 4 Servings

If you like the recipes in my Barefoot Contessa Birthday Brunch, here are the links:
1. Hasselback Potatoes
2. Sauteed Mushrooms with Garlic and Herbs
3. Green & Sunny Skillet
4. Flavored Butter
5. Roasted Garlic Spread (posting soon!)
6. Bacon Chocolate Cupcakes
7. Summer Iced Green Tea (posting soon!)


14 April 2012
Home-cooked Meals

Rocky and his Ninong (godfather) Ritchie

Thanks! Ninong, bye for now.

Hasselback Potatoes

Hasselback Potatoes

So here's the recipe for one of the dish I prepared on my "Barefoot Contessa" Birthday Brunch, hasselback potatoes, inspired by Ina' Garten's rosemary roasted potatoes. But my recipe was adapted from A Feast for the Eye blog. For her recipe, click here.

Here's my version of these pretty little things:

Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:
12 baby potatoes, washed and scrubbed
1 stick unsalted butter
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Direction:

1. Preheat oven to 200*C.

2. Grease the baking sheet with butter. Set aside.

3. Place a potato on a spoon and thinly slice the potato abouth 1/8 of an inch. Be careful not to slice all the way through. Do this for all the potatoes.

4. Melt the remaining butter. Add the minced garlic and parsley.

5. Brush the potatoes with the butter mixture. Arrange the potatoes on the baking sheet, 1 inch apart.

6. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. Halfway through the cooking process, brush the potatoes with butter. When cooked, sprinkle grated parmesan cheese and leave for another 3-5 minutes to create a cheese crust.

Serve hot.

Makes 3-4 Servings

If you like the recipes in my Barefoot Contessa Birthday Brunch, here are the links:
1. Hasselback Potatoes
2. Sauteed Mushrooms with Garlic and Herbs
3. Green & Sunny Skillet
4. Flavored Butter
5. Roasted Garlic Spread (posting soon!)
6. Bacon Chocolate Cupcakes
7. Summer Iced Green Tea (posting soon!)


14 April 2012
Home-cooked Meal

My "Barefoot Contessa" Birthday Brunch

Green & Sunny Skillet

I prepared a simple brunch on my 35th birthday. Although My husband insisted I don't do anything and just relax on my special day, I could not resist cooking...I love it! It makes me happy. And I certainly want to do something I love on MY day.


So, what's on the menu?

Some smoked sausages, hasselback potatoes, sauteed mushrooms with garlic and herbs, spinach and pine nuts egg bake on a skillet, (the name is too  long so I'm calling it Green & Sunny Skillet), crusty baguette, home-made flavored butter, (strawberry butter and herbed butter),  roasted garlic spread and a summer iced green tea with slices of fresh peach, tangerine orange, strawberry and peach liqueur.  I think I'll just call it Summer Iced Green Tea. For dessert, I made a mean Bacon Double Chocolate Cupcakes! I will be posting the recipes soon!

Strawberry Butter

 I was really excited to prepare this brunch and all of these dishes were prepared for the first time on that same day. So yeah, this birthday girl was really happy playing in her kitchen. I indeed had a ball!

The best part is, it wowed my family. My husband and his brother thought it was fancy. They asked me what's the theme of my brunch and what it's called, is it italian, english, mediterranean, etc? I said, I don't know. I just planned the menu in my head and it worked!

But it did got me thinking. I have to name this brunch, so what shall I call it?

Then it dawned on me, "Barefoot Contessa"!















Barefoot Contessa is Ina Garten's show in Food Network. Ina makes party and entertaining seems effortless; and I love how she puts everything together and it always turns out to be fabulous. In fact, one of the side dishes was adapted from her recipe featured in the show, the hasselback potatoes, (she called it rosemary roasted potatoes). I thought I'd jazz it up a notch and added parmesan cheese. Fantastic!

And so, here are the photos of my Barefoot Contessa Birthday Brunch. Don't forget to check out the links to the recipes. You won't believe how simple and easy it is until you try it yourself.

Hasselback Potatoes

Crusty Baguette, Roasted Garlic Spread & Herbed Butter

Bacon Double Chocolate Cupcakes

My Birthday Brunch

Intimate brunch with the family

Me & my boys

Here are the links to the recipes:
1. Hasselback Potatoes
2. Sauteed Mushrooms with Garlic and Herbs
3. Green & Sunny Skillet
4. Flavored Butter
5. Roasted Garlic Spread (posting soon!)
6. Bacon Chocolate Cupcakes
7. Summer Iced Green Tea (posting soon!)

14 April 2012
Home-cooked Meals

                                                                           

Flavored Butter

Strawberry Butter

Ah flavored butter, not only do they look pretty, they make a simple bread taste divine!

I got the inspiration to make these "life's simple pleasure" from the pin that led me to this blog, Sunday Suppers, (thanks Pinterest!). I made 2 versions for my birthday brunch, Strawberry Butter and Herbed Butter. I prepared them the day before the brunch and kept it in the fridge.


Strawberry Butter

Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Assembly time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1/2 stick of butter, room temperature
2 tbsp strawberry jam
1/8 inch slice of strawberry for garnish, (optional)

Directions:
1. Mix butter and jam until well combined.

2. Transfer in a small container and garnish with a slice of fresh strawberry on top. Cover the top with parchment paper. Alternatively, you may wrap it in parchment paper.

3. Refrigerate until ready to use. Will keep for one week.



Herbed Butter

Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Assembly time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1/2 stick of butter, room temperature
2 tbsp chopped fresh flatleaf parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
a pinch of salt
a pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1 fresh leaf of parsley to garnish, (optional)

Directions:
1. Mix butter, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper until well combined.

2. Transfer in a small container and garnish with fresh parsley on top. Cover the top with parchment paper. Alternatively, you may wrap it in parchment paper.

3. Refrigerate until ready to use. Will keep for one week.

If you like the recipes in my Barefoot Contessa Birthday Brunch, here are the links:
1. Hasselback Potatoes
2. Sauteed Mushrooms with Garlic and Herbs
3. Green & Sunny Skillet
4. Flavored Butter
5. Roasted Garlic Spread (posting soon!)
6. Bacon Chocolate Cupcakes
7. Summer Iced Green Tea (posting soon!)

Herbed Butter

14 April 2012
Home-cooked Meals

Lemon-Garlic Chicken

Got this delicious chicken recipe from pinterest which was originally from Annie's Eats. I slightly modified it to suit my taste and have altered some of the ingredients, like, I used dried basil instead of fresh rosemary. Not that I don't like rosemary but I only had dried basil available in my kitchen when I made this. This dish is so easy to make and it tasted absolutely yummy! The herb and spices did come together wonderfully.

For Annie's Eats recipe, click here. For my adaptation, keep reading.

Difficulty: Medium

Prep Time: 15 (marinade), 10 minutes (pre-cooking)
Inactive Time: 2 hours to overnight
Cooking Time: 70 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours, 25 minutes

Ingredients:

900g chicken thighs, bone-in, skin on
juice of 3 lemons
zest of 3 lemon
1/2 head of garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh thyme
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 stick of  unsalted butter, melted

 for garnish:
thin slices of lemon
2 sprigs of thyme

Directions:

1. Combine lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, thyme, basil, salt and pepper in a bowl.

2. In a large, rectangular container, arrange the chicken thigh, skin-side up. Pour the lemon marinade. Cover and marinade the chicken in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight.

3. Preheat oven to 200*C.

4. Place the chicken in a roasting pan or baking dish, skin-side up. Pour half of the marinade. Brush the top of each chicken with melted butter.

5. Bake the chicken for 60-70 minutes.After 30 minutes, add the rest of the marinade and brush the remaining butter on top of the chicken. If you don't want the extra juice on your chicken you can skip adding the rest of the marinade. Rotate the pan and wait until the chicken is done.

6. To serve, garnish with slices of lemon and sprigs of thyme.

7. Serve immediately. Great paired with white rice or mashed potato.

30 March
Home-cooked Meals